It is well known in motor vehicles to construct a vehicle door including an apertured door panel and to attach a door handle assembly to the panel for remotely operating a latching mechanism of the door. The handle assembly typically is comprised of a housing attachable directly to the door panel and a handle pivotally attached to the housing for remotely operating the latching mechanism. A separate pivot pin is typically employed to attach the door handle pivotally to the housing as shown, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,302, issued Feb. 2, 1993 and assigned to the assignee of this invention.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,822 to Fukumoto, granted Apr. 8, 1986 discloses a door handle assembly in which the handle and housing members have integral pivot connection portions and more particularly a ball and socket connection. This prior connection, however, requires the lever to be precisely aligned with the housing in order for the ball portion of the connection to be inserted in the socket portion, thus making assembly difficult. Furthermore, an independent retaining clip is needed in order to limit the range of movement of the door handle to keep the ball and socket sections connected during pivoting of the lever.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide a pivot connection between the door handle and housing without necessity for multiple components such as independent coupling devices exemplified by the pivot pins and retaining rings above.